Background: Preeclampsia is a major cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) screening model, incorporating placental growth factor (PlGF), is recommended for the early identification of women at risk of preeclampsia during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Objective: To evaluate the performance of the FMF preeclampsia screening model incorporating PlGF at Quang Ninh Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital.
Methods: A prospective descriptive longitudinal study was conducted on 1,187 singleton pregnancies at 11 weeks 3 days to 13 weeks 6 days of gestation, screened using the FMF model between November 2023 and December 2025. Predictive performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, the area under the ROC curve (AUC), and odds ratios (ORs).
Results: The high-risk group had significantly lower PlGF concentrations and PlGF multiples of the median (MoM) than the low-risk group (p < 0.001). The AUCs of PlGF and PlGF MoM were 0.74 and 0.77, respectively. A PlGF level ≤44.55 pg/mL or a PlGF MoM ≤0.73 was associated with a 7.13-fold and 7.12-fold increase, respectively, in the likelihood of belonging to the high-risk group (p < 0.001). The combined model incorporating mean arterial pressure (MAP), uterine artery pulsatility index (UtA-PI), and PlGF achieved the highest predictive performance, with an AUC of 0.891.
Conclusion: PlGF is a valuable biomarker for early preeclampsia risk screening using the FMF model. Combining PlGF with MAP and UtA-PI improves risk stratification and enhances the prediction of preeclampsia during the first trimester of pregnancy.